Unable to Start VM in ESXi 6.5

[LuckyFabian]

Good day everyone,

I am totally new here and need help! I installed ESX 6.5i on my HP Microserver about a year ago and gave it to a friend of mine to put a VM of 2012 Server on it which he did and recently returned it to me.

I have a 250gb internal SSD and two 2TB mirrored external drives in two of the bays on seperate HBA controllers.

PLEASE forgive my problem description which may seem primitive by your understanding (as I am still very new to VMWare and ESX etc.)

The 2012 Server VM WAS working and then in the last week it would not start and would not show the SSD as mounted under the Configuration Tab in the VSphere Client.

The VM is italic and greyed out and I cannot start it.

The file and path name under the IP of the Vm Client is as I am sure you people are familiar with :

/vmfs/volumes/58b0c13e-7ae8ea6e-dcdf-d0bf9c45b55c/Windows_SVR_VM.vmx (inaccessible)

When I click on the VM file/pathname itself in the left hand pane and click on the Summary Tab and click the VM Hostname.

When I click the Resource Allocation Tab I get this Error :

An internal error occurred in the vSphere Client.

Details: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

On the Events Tab I get the description (as shown in scrnsht3.jpg) "Configuration file cannot be found" as an informational message

with the Description "Configuration file for /vmfs/volumes/58b0c13e-7ae8ea6e-dcdf-d0bf9c45b55c/Windows_SVR_VM.vmx on lucky1(host) in ha-datacenter cannot be found.

I am not 100% but I thought VM's themselves were .vmdk files and this .vmx file was on the SSD which I presume is needed to start the VM but I've copied it over to the datastore with the 2xraided disks as well last night.

I will attach screen shots, I hope somebody can help me get this working as I need 2012 to study for my exams...

Thanks and blessings in advance!

LuckyFabian

[robbielozier]

What is the model of your server? and just has a FYI you are not running ESXi 6.5. If you have all the VMDK files and you relocated the VMX file, try to add it back to inventory. Browse the storage where the VMX file is, right click and Add to Inventory and try to power on.

[LuckyFabian]

It's a Gen8 Microserver. Apologies, just checked the versions on the Client and it's ESXi 6.0

Sorry, browse the storage under what tab? Sorry man I'm slow at this...
Best Regards,

LuckyFabian

[robbielozier · Accepted solution]

Just see if you can add the vmx file back to inventory. If you still see the same error, you will have to edit the vmx file to point to the new vmdks.

[dekoshal]

Storage used by esxi is called Datastore. For VM to work, datastore had to be present and accessible.

You can verify if datastore accessible by checking its status. From host and cluster Select Host and click on configure and select datastore.

If datastore is available, browse datastore and verify that all the file for that vm is available.

Remove problem vm from inventory and register it back.

If you found this or any other answer helpful, please consider the use of the Correct or Helpful to award points.

Best Regards,

Deepak Koshal

CNE|CLA|CWMA|VCP4|VCP5|CCAH

[vijayrana968]

Is your datastore accessible ? Click on host > configuration > storage, and see if the mounted datastore is grayed out.

If that is accessible, right click on VM > remove from inventory. And then register it again by browsing datastore > VM folder > right click on VMX file and add to inventory, follow the wizard steps.

[LuckyFabian]

ok so I removed the .vmx link and then went to the Datastore on the SSD, found it there and re-added and BOOM!

Just got back in, thank you Robbie! MUCH MUCH APPRECIATED!!!

[LuckyFabian]

Thank you Vijay!

[LuckyFabian]

Thank you Deko!

[Zirzaa]

Hi all,

I got same issue as fabian facing.. i try follow the step that u gave and some vm it successful to re add. And some server failed to add. Any other solution?

Thank you